William (Bill) Riley
Principal Freshwater Fish Ecologist
Principal freshwater fish ecologist with forty years’ experience with MAFF/ Defra/ Cefas. Leader of the Freshwater Fish Ecology research area at Cefas, managing R&D programmes on migratory salmonids and freshwater fish, and providing expert advice to Defra. Primary areas of interest include: fish migration, fish ecology, behavioural ecology and factors affecting juvenile salmonid production.
Frequent first author of high-quality peer reviewed publications and reports. Regular presenter, often as an invited speaker, at national and international conferences. Mr Riley’s involvement in research on freshwater fish/ PhD Supervision is actively sought out by his peers/ academic institutions at both a national and international level.
More recent areas of interest have included: the importance of Small Water Bodies (SWBs) in providing vital ecosystem services and their vulnerability to anthropogenic pressures, the ecological consequences of Artificial Light at Night (ALAN), and animal welfare and the ethics of animal use in science.
He established and Chaired the Defra Expert Group on SWBs; is a Member of Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) Fisheries Research Steering Committee; and a Member of The Wild Trout Trust Scientific Advisory Panel.
Until recently Mr Riley was Chair of the Cefas Animal Welfare & Ethical Review Body (AWERB) and Home Office Liaison Contact (HOLC) at Lowestoft. However, in the interests of effective succession he now fulfils the role of vice-Chair, while retaining his responsibilities as Named Training and Competency Officer (NTCO) and Named Information Officer (NIO).
Awarded a 1st Class Honours Degree by The Open University having previously won a scholarship to study full-time in the second year at The University of Cambridge reading Natural Sciences.
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